Tortured Souls
by XionAmmy
Summary: "Kiku... Kiku..." his taunting voice calls. I shudder involuntarily, pressing further backwards into my hiding place. I must be careful not to make a sound, I remind myself. Rated for saftey and content. I wrote this after a really bad day; it'll be dark.
1. Prologue: The Games

**_~Tortured Souls Prologue: The Games~ _**

"Kiku... Kiku... Come out and play, da~ze," **his** taunting voice calls. I shudder involuntarily, pressing further backwards into my hiding place._ I must be careful not to make a sound,_ I remind myself.

"What's wrong, shorty? You scared of us?" **she** chimes in. "Is that the problem, you're too much of a coward?"

I whimper quietly, terrified of what** they** will do to me, the "games" **they** will force me to play, if I make a stupid mistake and dare to show myself. _Kami, please, let Aniki come home early. Save me from them_, I pray, my lips moving along with the words that couldn't be heard. _Please, Kami, don't let them find me!_

"Come on, Kiku! Stop hiding! We won't hurt you, da~ze."

**He** is telling the truth. **They** would never hurt me. Mentally scar, yes, but never physically harm. If Yao _ever_ catches **them** hurting me... well, the phrases "hell hath no fury" and "mother bear and her cubs" spring to mind. Our parents? We may as well not have any, considering how often they are actually around. They do not care about us at all; they most certainly are not going to save me. They'd probably _encourage_ my tormentors, if anything. I am only five years old, hiding from my own siblings. Our house is in the middle of the woods, out of earshot of our neighbors. No one ever calls the police, ever comes to rescue me, because we are so isolated. Aside from my siblings, who either cause the pain or are threatened into silence, no one can hear me scream. Mental scars do not show outward signs, so Aniki either has no idea this is going on or does not have any proof. Yao may be protective, but he is by no means unfair. That leaves me helpless, unable to defend myself against **them**.

"Kiku, come out already! We made up a new game for you to play with us!" **she** calls. My breath catches in my throat and my heartbeat races at an almost impossible rate. **She** is far too _close_, **she** can find me any second if I make even the slightest of sounds.

"Aniki, please! Please hurry!" I whisper, my voice too quiet to be heard. "Kami, make them go away!"

"He's not in here, Yong Soo!" **she **whines, the sound of **her** footsteps receding as **she** walks away. "Maybe he left."

Cautiously, I poke my head out to see the room. It is empty; I am alone. The window... perhaps, if I am lucky, I can make a run for the window, visit Aniki at work...

"Help me search the bathroom, da~ze. There are too many hiding places in here," Yong Soo calls. Seizing my chance, I race across the room and to the window, shoving it open. As I clamber out, I hear rushed footsteps returning. I do not have much time!

"He's in the yard!" I hear **her** yell from somewhere behind me.

"Then don't just stand there, Min! Catch him, da~ze!" Yong Soo screeches at her in response

Knowing that they will catch me if I keep up this pace, I force my already-aching legs to move faster, dashing into the forest at the edge of our yard. I dart amongst the trees, staying out of their sight, before finally growing tired. Knowing them, they are probably still chasing me, so I hurriedly climb the first tall tree I come to - the nearest hiding place. Soon, I am comfortably situated on a sturdy, strong branch high enough that I am hidden, but low enough that I can still see my siblings as they come to a stop in the clearing below.

"Drat!" Min pouts. "He got away."

Yong Soo comes up behind her and places a hand on her shoulder. "He's quick and tiny, not to mention smart and agile, like a cat. We'll just have to look harder next time, da~ze," he says, his voice louder than necessary considering he is standing right next to Min. Now that I think about it, they are both speaking louder than they really need to. Yong Soo glances around, lowering his voice before continuing. "D'ya really think it'll work?"

"Of course it will! If he doesn't come home, Yao'll have to go looking for him. We both know he hates having to look for us because we got lost in the woods," Min declares, her voice smug but quiet.

"Unless Ji tattles," Yong Soo points out.

Min just smirks. "He's far too... _busy_ to be a tattletale at the moment."

Two hours after Yong Soo and Min left me sitting alone in the tree, too scared to climb down in case they were hiding nearby, I hear a familiar voice calling in the distance.

"Aniki!" I call, relieved. I jump to the ground, landing on my feet, and race back towards the house, towards the voice of my beloved older brother. When he was finally able to see me, the worried look on his face melts away; he seems to be on the verge of tears as a relieved look floods across his face. When I reach him, I hug him as best I can.

Min lets out an indignant cry, catching everyone's attention. Even Ji and Niran, both of which had just come out of the forest (probably from searching for me), turn to stare.

"We'll talk about this later," Yong Soo hisses, clearly frustrated by something Min has said or done.

Yao sends them an odd look before ushering us all inside. Just before the two of us walk inside, he pulls me off to the side to talk, kneeling down to look me in the eye. Despite the fact that I am half his age, my head only reaches his hip.

"Kiku," Yao whispers, kneeling down and looking me directly in the eye, "if they're doing anything to harm you, in any way, tell me right away, aru. Can you do that for me?"

I nod, knowing I can never tell him. They are not hurting me; not physically, anyway. "I will, Aniki. I promise," I reply softly.

He smiles and ruffles my hair before going inside. I am certain he knows, but does not have proof, that Min and Yong Soo are doing something to me...

His smile never reached his eyes that night.

**I know, Taiwan (Min, suggestions for a last name are appreciated. If I don't get any, she'll just be Wang Min) and South Korea (Im Yong Soo) are terribly, painfully out of character, and I doubt China (Wang Yao, Aniki to Japan) is so uber-protective of Japan (Kiku Honda), but it's a STORY. So... all OOC-ness is an artistic license.**

**I'm sorry, Taiwan and South Korea! You were the first ones I thought of when I thought of the Oriental nations, and I needed someone with a verbal tick so Kiku's tormenters could be differentiated! South Korea's "da~ze" was the first thing to pop into my head other than China's "aru" but he I know they would never be so cruel to Kiku, but... *sobs***

**By the way, DISCLAIMER TIME! I don't own Hetalia, borrowed the human names from **_**Writer of a Thousand Colors**_**'s story, ****Log of the End of the World****. I own this story, the OOC-ness of the characters, and the FFN account.**


	2. Chapter 1: Caught Red Handed

**_~Tortured Souls Chapter 1: Caught Red-Handed~_**

**oOoOoOoOo ~Kiku's POV~ oOoOoOoOo**

The next morning, Yong Soo and Min got into a very loud argument, unaware that Aniki had not yet left the house. Apparently, I had twisted one ankle by tripping over a root while running through the forest the day before, so Yao had opted to stay home and patch it up.

"I told you and told you, da~ze!" Yong Soo yelled. "'It won't work,' I said. 'It's not going to work, we'll get caught.' But _no, _**you** said. 'Of course it'll work, don't worry, we won't get caught, it'll all work out.' Look where _that_ got us! We were this close to getting caught, Min! _This close,_ da~ze!"

Yao shot me a questioning look, but I couldn't meet his eyes - not without bursting into tears.

"So I forgot the exact reason why Yao is always okay with Kiku running around in the woods!" Min shot back defensively. "It's not my fault he always comes back when Yao calls!"

_Judging by the volume of their voices, _I realized with a jolt, _they must be in the room right next to us! _Without warning, Yao stood and left the room. Instantly, panic began to blossom in my chest. Had I angered Aniki by not telling him?

Gritting my teeth, I forced myself to ignore the pain in my injured ankle and stand up. I was not able to stop myself from wincing as the pain increased tenfold, my ankle protesting against supporting my weight, but I followed my eldest brother out of the room regardless.

"Min," Yao asked from the doorway of the neighboring room. Inside, my tormentors froze before slowly turning to face Aniki. "what exactly did Yong Soo tell you wouldn't work, aru?"

The look on their faces was something akin to what I envision as the face the hero in a horror story probably makes when faced with the monster they fight against for the first time - pure terror. "Um... J-just a... just a harmless little joke," Min managed, giggling nervously under Yao's steady, furious glare.

"... 'Joke'?" Yao repeated, one slim, dark eyebrow raised. "Would that... '**joke**' be 'trick Kiku into spending the night in the woods,' by any chance, aru?"

As Yong Soo and Min exchanged nervous glances, gulping, I could not help but let a small, relieved smile spread across my features. The day I had been dreaming of, hoping for, had finally arrived.

That day was the day I hoped the "games" would finally end.

**oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

As it turns out, getting caught only made my illogical siblings more reckless.

The "games" they once "played" with me, the various psychological tortures they would put me through... I would give anything to return to the days when that was the worst they would do to me.

They are no longer afraid to physically injure me, brave enough to even scar me.

The scar on my left arm, for example: the scar Aniki believes I got from falling out of a tree and scraping my arm, the result of a mere accident. That story could not be further from the truth. I actually got it when Min attacked me with a knife as Yong Soo held me down. Had I not been able to fight them off... Kami knows how much worse my wounds might have been.

I want to tell Aniki what is happening, I really do; however, I am terrified of what they might do to me if I tell anyone. The attacks already grow more violent by the day, to the point where I fear of my life.

I feel like a castaway on a deserted island with a life raft floating near the coast, just out of reach due to some unknown danger in the water: isolated, but with means of escape visible yet unobtainable.

**oOoOoOoOo ~ Feliciano's POV ~ oOoOoOoOo**

I lean back in my chair, sighing. After a long day of work, I often lock myself in my bedroom and paint until dinner time.

Turning, my attention is drawn to the large, sheet-covered canvas in the corner: my current project, the painting I am working on as of right now. It's a portrait of myself and...

_No... no, not that, not now. I cannot bring myself to work on that..._

Shaking my head, I pull out a blank sheet of paper and begin to draw, not quite sure what my sketch will end up being yet. Eventually, Austria calls me down for dinner. I stand, heaving a sigh as I abandon my half-finished drawing. Plastering a (false) carefree smile on my face, I leave the safety of my bedroom and make my way down to the dining room.

Today has been a long day, and I can hardly wait for it to end at last.

* * *

><p><strong>Well, there's chapter two... wow, not only have I portrayed Yong Soo and Min as horrible people, but I have made Kiku's life <em>really<em> suck.  
><strong>**If you ask, I might be willing to tell you a bit of what South Korea and Taiwan put poor Kiku through... maybe.**

**By the way, as the end of the chapter suggests, Feliciano will be having his sections of the story... probably England, too, once we get to the right time period.**

**This story is (as far as I have planned) going to introduce characters, show a bit of their lives to explain how exactly they are being tortured, either by themselves, the past, other people, or other factors, cut off kinda suddenly (sorta like how Japan's did), and then reintroduce them later to resolve their problem. Make sense? Good.**

**Be on the lookout for chapter two!**


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